Fatal Abyss
by Miles Depth
Summary: With the Ishimura scheduled for decommission, the USG has decided that Issac is not working fast enough. Miles "Tails" Prower is sent in after him to lend a hand. However, it isn't long before the kit discovers the nightmare on board. Will he be able to help Isaac, save Cosmo from the Necromorphs, and escape alive? Based on the first game in the Dead Space series.


**The Obligatory Stuff**

****This story is based in the Dead Space universe. I do not own any of the characters. I am rather re-imagining events that occurred in the first Dead Space game while adding characters from Sonic the Hedgehog. This tale will follow Tails as he attempts to assist Isaac Clark with repairing the Ishimura. As he catches up to his fellow engineer, the kit will come face to face with many of the same problems.

Rather than ramble on here and give anything else away I am just going to let you read the story now.

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The grainy feed of video shot out from his suit's internal projector, its color in stark comparison the bleakness of space on the other side the re-enforced glass in front of him. It was all he had of her while she was away. Cosmo's face stared back at him, hesitating, before she began to tell him how she really felt.

"I miss you," she said in her soothing voice.

Even hearing it for the hundredth time calmed his nerves.

"It can be a little boring here," Cosmo continued before livening up with a smile. "But the work we are doing is amazing! The potential applications are limitless. I wish you were here to see it all, I know you would appreciate them too."

He smiled back at the girl knowing full well it was just pixels suspended in air and not the woman he loved.

"It's too bad the Ishimura will be decommissioned after this, I think I am finally starting to see everything you saw in it. The humans here are friendly, even despite my differences. Stay safe Tails, I will be home before you know it."

With that last remark, the video faded out in static. If prized possessions are those that invoke the most emotion and sentimental value, then this recording was worth more than anything else he owned. It was one of the few pieces of data that hound found a permanent residence on his suits storage drive since she had left.

His approach to the Ishimura assumed his full attention. The ship had sent out a distress call several days ago regarding their com system. The USG had sent in an engineering team, but lost contact with them almost immediately. It seems that an Isaac Clark and his team were not nearly up to the task of repairing an entire planet cracker.

Now they were sending him in. It wasn't often he got sent this far out into deep space. The USG liked to keep their prized engineers a little closer to home, but with the Ishimura so close to retirement, they couldn't risk any more delays on the mining operation. Perhaps if he finished up quickly enough there would be time see Cosmo. The ship was near as big a city, so he didn't have much hope for running into her by happenstance alone. It would be different if she knew he was coming, but with communications down, the two-tailed fox would be a surprise to everyone aboard.

Tails fumbled with controls as he launched a probe. The USG would want to know that he arrived, but the distance between his small cruiser and the nearest base of operations was too far for a standard broadcast. In a couple of hours the small device would be far enough out into the abyss to relay transmissions, but until then they would have to trust that he was alright.

"That's odd," Miles commented quietly to himself.

Something looked off about the large vessel he was approaching. The bay doors had been wrenched open by some type of accident, and to make matters worse, the gravity field used to guide ships in safely was totally out of whack. The smooth approach quickly turned into anything but as the malfunctioning traction system swayed his ship haphazardly from side to side. If he didn't do something quick, there was a good chance he would be stuck and at the whim of force he couldn't control.

The kit grabbed the controls and rolled the craft as hard as he could to left, escaping the light that bent around the gravity wave. Backing off the power he floated alongside the aft of the ship for a moment. It was dark, and it looked as if the ship had lost more than just communications. The asteroid defense shield was completely off line and rocks as large houses were freely colliding with the ship's hull.

"Looks like Isaac bit off more than he could chew with this one," the fox observed.

Granted it was starting to look like a lot of work for the kit too. If an entire engineering team couldn't get this thing up and running in a day, then even he was going to have some trouble with it.

Since the starboard side airlock seemed to be, for lack of a better word, out of order, Tails brought his ship around to the other side. The entire docking system was offline, but at least the bay doors were open. He would be able to pilot the ship in manually, but it was no easy task to dock a deep space cruiser into the holding bay of a planet cracker without autopilot or a gravity field. The fox could feel beads of sweat form on his forehead as he inched his ship forward.

Not even the magnetic clamps to hold his ship in place were powered up. With trepidation he engaged the landing gears and set the vessel down in the deck of the cargo bay. There wasn't a single soul in sight to greet him.

"Hello," the kit called out on the short range frequencies. "This is Miles Prower with the USG Engineering Division."

Surely someone on the ship would be in a RIG suit and hear him. However, only gargled crackles returned his greeting.

"I am here to fix the communications," he added for good measure.

While the engines on his cruiser were powering down, Tails freed himself from the pilot seat. Perhaps he would be able to find someone wondering around on one of the other decks. As he reached for the door to the air lock, his eyes stumbled across one of the EDF standard issue firearms affixed to the wall next to the bulkhead. It was by no means typical equipment for him, but something about this place was already rubbing him the wrong way. Everything was far too quiet for a ship of this size. No one would question him for carrying it, or at least he didn't think they would.

Seizing the weapon he added it one of the magnetic slots on his work belt before closing his helmet. There was no telling how stable the atmosphere would be outside the confines of his ship.

"Atmosphere, nominal," Tails' RIG suit called out as cabin door swung open to the Ishimura.

"What about life forms?" he asked almost jokingly.

The fact that no one was around to greet him was unnerving. Even if they had no idea he was coming, surly the loading bay would have a decent amount of foot traffic.

"Detected," the robotic voice answered.

That was a relief, he wasn't alone after all. Although it was beginning to become clearer why no one was down here. Another small USG ship had crashed through the starboard dock, its wreckage strewn across the floor in fiery heaps. Perhaps it everyone was too afraid of depressurization to do anything about it.

Upon further examination the kit quickly figured out that the ship belonged to his predecessor.

"Isaac," he whispered into his radio.

His magnetic boots worked hard to keep up with his pace. The suit was smart enough to recognize when he was about to take a step and disengaged each foot accordingly. As big as this ship was, it still wasn't capable of generating enough gravity to hold everything down, not in the docking bay anyway.

When he reached the shattered glass of the windshield, the fox was able to make out the lifeless body of a pilot, but it was no one he recognized. Perhaps the USG was right to send him in. If Isaac's crew was a man down, and with this kind of mess, they were in desperate need of his prowess.

With no where left to go, Tails turned towards the main deck. Someone there would surely have some answers. However, the door to the quarantine zone was jammed shut, its lock folded into place to prevent anything for getting in or out. With his reinforced gloves, the fox banged on the door menacingly. He was starting to get annoyed that things had gotten this out of hand.

"Anyone in there?"

Unsurprisingly no one answered.

"Then you buy yourself a new door," the kit muttered over the radio as he reached for the small plasma cutter on his belt. The arch of super heated gas dissolved through the alloy binges like a warm knife through butter. This time, when his fist met the door, it fell inward revealing an exceptionally dark waiting room. Any person or object who boarded the Ishimura would be required to be checked for contaminants and other questionable biological entities. Sicknesses, common or foreign, could easily incapacitate half the crew with such cramped quarters.

An alarm sounded, blaring into the nothingness while nozzles drenched him with a cleansing fluid. It appeared as if the Ishumra did not believe him to be healthy. As he pressed forward he could feel his boots gliding across a greasy floor. Never mind greeting him, the crew were too lazy to clean as well. Tails was having trouble remembering why he had recommended the Ishimura to Cosmo. The ship had been the pride of the fleet for nearly a hundred years, and being a member of the crew was an utmost honor to most. Yet there were now ships twice her size with even better technology.

Reach blindly for the breaker panel on the wall, Miles wrenched the cover off and found the blown fuse. In the pouch on his belt he found a matching one to replace it. However, as the lights flickered back on he genuinely wish he had not bothered to waste the part for more reasons than one. What he had once thought was large helping of grease was in fact blood. To make matters worse, it did not just cover the floor, but also the walls and ceiling. What ever happened in hear had been grizzly beyond comprehension.

The scene left the kit speechless. The only comparable thing he had witnessed had been from back home after some poor unsuspecting sap was sucked into a new propulsion system they were testing. However, the rends in the wall told him this was no accident. The only strange thing about it all was the lack of bodies. After all, this much blood had to come from somewhere, and if he had to guess it was more than one person.

"So much blood," Miles said aloud as he ran a finger over one of the gashes in the wall, trying to figure out what possibly could have been strong enough tear through steel of this quality.

A loud clank grabbed his attention, forcing him to turn and look at the vents on the other side of the room. Even though he wasn't a soldier instinct made his hand reach for the pistol. Its L.E.D read out told him there were twelve armor penetrating rounds contained within, more than enough to deal with whomever did this. His pinky felt around for the switch that turned on the tactical light, illuminating the shadows at the back of the air duct. Two gleaming red eyes stared back, the flesh that covered their sockets rotted away by something he couldn't even begin to fathom.

"What in the?" was all he could manage before the beast scampered out of its hiding place.

This thing did not walk, nor did run, but rather lumbered on limbs that hardly deserved to be called that. Where perhaps a person's arms might have been, there were blades made of bone and cartilage. Skin nor garments covered the fowl smelling demon, but rather a reddened leather hide that caused the creature to glow faintly.

There was no time for fear, not when his life was on the line. He worked with machines that could kill him every day, this scenario was no different. Respect the situation and there is nothing quick thinking cannot overcome. The first three rounds tore through the fiend's chest, having almost no affect what so ever. Opting for a change of tactics Tails took aim at its legs hoping for better results. Each bullet he fired went right through the creature, doing little more than slowing its charge.

"This isn't good," the fox muttered to himself after having put the last round in his weapon through his enemies head without having a change in circumstance.

At least he had managed to dodge the blades before being tackled to the ground. The thing clawed at him madly, but thankfully his suit was sparing him the brunt of the damage. For now it would guard against lacerations, but there was little hope for the fox if the beast attempted to stab him. If its sword like forearms could cut through the inner halls of the Ishimura, then his RIG would not fair any better.

Knowing full well that time was running out Miles reached for the only thing that made sense, his Plasma Cutter. If bullets weren't doing anything, then perhaps a missing limb would. Pressing the business end of the cutter to his enemies arm, he squeezed the trigger. A fresh coat of blood drenched both Tails and the room as the arm fell from the fiend's body. It recoiled violently, withering and flopping about on the floor as if it were a fish out of water. The fox took advantage of the reprieve and got back to his feet, catching his breath as he did so.

Unfortunately, it didn't take long for this creature to return upright either. With just one blade like arm, it swung at him madly, forcing the kit to duck low and slide backwards out of its reach. He had never bothered to use a Plasma Cutter at a distance before, but knew the arch had a much longer range than was necessary for any of the tool's standard applications. Today however, the two-tailed fox was happy for that. As he leveled a shot, his new weapon sparked to life as molten blue line erupted from the end, slicing through the air and his enemy.

The room was silent again, save for the heavy exhalations of Tails. He reached up to his helmet and fumbled for the button to retract it. The air in the room stunk of death, but his RIGs filtration system was barely able to keep up with his elevated breathing.

At the very least, things were starting to make more sense; the crash, why the docking bay was locked down, not to mention the blood. Something had gotten aboard and it appears the crew had sealed it in here. At least quarantine had done its job. There was no telling how many people that thing could have cut down had it gotten any further. Civilian workers were not privy to well armored suit he had been fortunate enough have been wearing.

With his breathing normalized, Tails found his way over the terminal behind the desk. He wanted desperately to get in touch with someone so they could come retrieve him from this nightmare.

"Cosmo," the kit nearly screamed as he read through a log file with her name on it.

His paw moved quickly to open it. Soon enough her face was staring back at him, so vivid was her complexion that he felt tempted to speak to her as if she was actually there.

"There have been all of these inexplicable noises lately. They frighten me. Rattling pipes, loud banging in the vents and occasional screeches. The engineers tell me it's normal for such an old ship, but I know Tails would disagree. I just want all of this to be over now."

The recording made him fear for the worst. What Cosmos said suggested that were more of these things and could have made it past quarantine.

The fox paced back and forth. Logic and his training told him to stay put and wait for his communication beacon to get far enough out into space to let him call for backup, but his heart was racing and Cosmo could be trapped somewhere inside the ship with these monsters. Tails grimaced with the realization that he could not live with himself if he didn't try to save her, that was if she was even still alive.

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This was a story I wrote while I was bored. I have no idea if I will ever finish it, or even continue it. I am merely looking for feed back as to whether the story is attention grabbing. Let me know if you would like to add this to the stories I am working on.

Reviews welcomed and encouraged.

Cheers,

M.D


End file.
